
Gass E 6 6^ 

Book Vfi65U5' 



^^jS?^r^} HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES {%''o%r 



\\-d. t» 3d- Cs^^o ., ^dstii,^ Hl4- 



WILLIAM HENRY WILDER 

(Late a Representative from Massachusetts) 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 

DELIVERED IN THE 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE SENATE 

OF THE UNITED STATES 

SIXTY-THIRD CONGRESS 



Proceedings in the House 
February 8, 1914 



Proceedings in the Senate 
February 28, 1915 



PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF 
THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON PRINTING 




WASHINGTON 
1915 










D. of D. 
MAR 2?. 1916 






TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Page 

Proceedings in the House 5-46 ^ 

Prayer by Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D 6,8 

Memorial addresses by — 

Mr. Calvin D. Paige, of Massachusetts 11 

Mr. William S. Greene, of Massachusetts 16 

Mr. Ernest W. Roberts, of Massachusetts 19 

Mr. Thomas G. Thacher, of Massachusetts 22 

Mr. John J. Mitchell, of Massachusetts 24 

Mr. John J. Rogers, of Massachusetts 29 

Mr. Martin A. Morrison, of Indiana 32 

Mr. Andrew J. Peters, of Massachusetts 37 

Mr. William A. Oldfield, of Arkansas 39 

Mr. Samuel E. Winslow, of Massachusetts 41 

Mr. Augustus P. Gardner, of Massachusetts 43 

Mr. Allen T. Treadway, of Massachusetts 45 

Proceedings in the Senate 47-57 

Memorial addresses bj' — 

Mr. Henry Cabot Lodge, of Massachusetts 51 

Mr. John W. Weeks, of Massachusetts 54 

Article from the Gardner (Mass.) Journal, Sept. 18, 1913 59 



[3] 




HON. WILLIAM H. WILDER 



DEATH OF HON. WILLIAM HENRY WILDER 



Proceedings in the House 

Thursday, September 11, 1913. 

Mr. Treadway. Mr. Speaker, it becomes my sad duty to 
announce to the House of Representatives the death of 
Hon. William H. Wilder, late a Representative from the 
third district of Massachusetts. 

I will not take the time now, but I will at some future 
time ask the House to set apart a day in order that proper 
tribute may be paid to his memory. 

Mr. Speaker, I offer the following resolutions. 

The Speaker. The Clerk will report the resolutions. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, That the House has heard with profound sorrow of 
the death of Hon. William H. Wilder, a Representative from the. 
State of Massachusetts. 

Resolved, That a committee of 20 Members of the House, with 
such Members of the Senate as may be joined, be appointed to 
attend the funeral. 

Resolved, That the Sergeant at Arms of the House be authorized 
and directed to take such steps as may be necessary for carrying 
out the provisions of these resolutions, and that the necessary ex- 
pense in connection therewith be paid out of the contingent fund 
of the House. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the 
Senate and transmit a copy thereof to the family of the deceased. 

The resolution was agreed to; and the Speaker ap- 
pointed as the committee on the part of the House Mr. 
Peters, Mr. Curley, Mr. Murray of Massachusetts, Mr. 
Mitchell, Mr. Phelan, Mr. Thacher, Mr. Gilmore, Mr. Diet- 
rich, Mr. Adamson, Mr. Watkins, Mr. Oldfield, Mr. Gillett, 
Mr. Greene of Massachusetts, Mr. Roberts of Massachu- 

[5] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Wilder 

setts, Mr. Gardner, Mr. Treadway, Mr. Winslow, Mr. 
Rogers, Mr. Hinds, and Mr. Slemp. 

Mr. Treadway. Mr. Speaker, I offer the following further 
resolution. 

The Speaker. The Clerk will report the resolution. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect the House do now 
adjourn. 

The resolution was agreed to; accordingly (at 9 o'clock 
and 27 minutes p. m.) the House, under the order hereto- 
fore agreed to, adjourned until Friday, September 12, 
1913, at 11 o'clock a. m. 

Monday, September 15, 1913. 
The House met at 12 o'clock noon. 
The Chaplain, Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D., offered the 
following prayer: 

Thou givest, O God our Father, and Thou takest away. 
None can stay Thy hand. Thou art almighty and doest all 
things well. Again this House has been called upon to 
record the death of another of its Members, one who was 
born and grew up under the most adverse circumstances 
of life, and yet made for himself a place in State and 
Nation — a virile mind and a big heart, a heart that went 
out to the man down and out, the widow and the orphan, 
the poor, the hungry, the sick, and the needy in deeds of 
brotherly love and kindness. May the noble in his char- 
acter be an inspiration to others and solace to those who 
knew and loved him. The body perishes, but the soul 
lives on, we dare to hope, under brighter skies and more 
favorable environments. So may wc live, so may we die, 
in the faith once delivered to the saints. Amen. 

Mr. Barnhart having taken the chair as Speaker pro 
tempore, a message from the Senate, by Mr. Tulley, one 

[6] 



Proceedings in the House 



of its clerks, announced that the Senate had passed the 
following resolution: 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with deep sensibihty the 
announcement of the death of Hon. William Henry Wilder, late a 
Representative from the State of Massachusetts. 

Resolved, That a committee of six Senators be appointed by the 
Vice President, to join the committee appointed on the part of the 
House of Representatives, to attend the funeral of the deceased. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate a copy of these reso- 
lutions to the House of Representatives. 

In compliance with the foregoing, the Presiding Officer 
appointed as said committee Mr. Lodge, Mr. Weeks, Mr. 
Myers, Mr. Walsh, Mr. McLean, and Mr. Catron. 

The message also announced that the Senate had passed 
the following resolution: 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of 
the deceased Representative the Senate do now adjourn. 



Tuesday, January 20, lOlk^. 

Mr. Paige of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I ask unani- 
mous consent for the present consideration of the follow- 
ing order. 

The Speaker. The gentleman from Massachusetts asks 
unanimous consent for the present consideration of an 
order which the Clerk will report. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Ordered, That Sunday, February 8, 1914, be set apart for ad- 
dresses upon the life, character, and public services of the Hon. 
William H. Wilder, late a Representative from the State of 
Massachusetts. 

The Speaker. Is there objection? If not, it will be so 
ordered. 
There was no objection. 

[7] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Wilder 

Sunday, February 8, 191^. 

The House met at 12 o'clock noon and was called to 
order by Mr. Bartlett as Speaker pro tempore. 

The Chaplain, Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D., offered the 
following prayer: 

Father in heaven, let Thy spirit descend copiously upon 
us as we thus assemble in memory of the departed; men 
who by their nobility of character, intellectual attain- 
ments, and patriotic zeal won for themselves the confi- 
dence of their fellows who selected them to be their rep- 
resentatives in this body, to enact into law the things 
which make for good government; an honor which chal- 
lenges the respect of men and has secured for them an 
enviable place in American history. 

Their work is done; their souls have passed into the 
realm where character will be their passport into the 
larger fields of endeavor prepared by the Giver of all 
good gifts. We thank Thee for their lives, for their work, 
for their example. May we work and faint not, trust and 
doubt not, and be made ready when the summons comes 
to pass on into the larger life, prepared for whatever 
awaits us; in the spirit of the Master. Amen. 

The Speaker pro tempore. The Clerk will report the 
second order of the day. 
The Clerk read as follows: 

On motion of Mr. Paige of Massachusetts, by unanimous consent, 
Ordered, That Sunday, February 8, 1914, be set apart for ad- 
dresses upon the life, character, and public services of Hon. 
William H. Wilder, late a Representative from the State of 
Massachusetts. 

Mr. Paige of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I offer the fol- 
lowing resolution. 

[8] 



Proceedings in the House 



The Clerk read as follows: 

House resolution 408 

Resolved, That the business of the House be now suspended that 
opportunity may be given for tributes to the memory of Hon. 
William Henry Wilder, late a Member of this House from the 
State of Massachusetts. 

Resolved, That as a particular mark of respect to the memory of 
the deceased and in recognition of his distinguished public career 
the House, at the conclusion of these exercises, shall stand ad- 
journed. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the 
Senate. 

Resolved, That the Clerk send a copy of these resolutions to the 
family of the deceased. 



[9] 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



Address of Mr. Paige, of Massachusetts 

Mr. Speaker: I regret that I am not so fortunate as 
many who will follow me on this occasion as to have 
enjoyed an intimate acquaintance with my predecessor, 
the Hon. William Henry Wilder, but I know that what I 
shall say will voice the opinion and judgment of my con- 
stituents, who knew him well and who appreciated his 
ability and his service to them in this House. 

William Henry Wilder was born May 14, 1855, at Bel- 
fast, Me., where he remained until he was 11 years of age, 
when his parents removed to Massachusetts. What edu- 
cation he received in the schools came from the great 
university of the common people, the public school. 

During the first years following the removal of the 
family to Massachusetts he worked on a farm in the sum- 
mer and attended school in the winter. His knowledge of 
machinery was acquired in factories at Gardner, Mass. 
At the age of 17 he went into business for himself, follow- 
ing the paint trade and lines connected therewith, and 
remained an employer of labor until his death on the 
11th of last September. 

But for years he desired a larger field of endeavor, his 
purpose being to go West, but at the solicitation of friends 
he was induced to remain in Gardner, and the result was 
that the oil-stove business, which now forms an important 
part of the manufacturing life of that town, was estab- 
lished there. 

Mr. Wilder acquainted himself with every feature per- 
taining to it, supervised and directed the improvements 
with such diligence that for a period of more than 20 

[11] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Wilder 



years not a year elapsed that at least one patent was not 
issued to him, he having taken out more than 50 in all. 
His father, Jonas P. Wilder, himself a mechanic, was the 
inventor of the first sidehill plow, originally devised for 
plowing on a sidehill, now familiarly known as the swivel 
plow. 

After a short period of depression in the oil-stove busi- 
ness the Central Oil Gas Stove Co. was organized in 
1890, with Mr. Wilder as treasurer, and with factories 
located at Gardner and Florence, Mass., Greenwich, Conn., 
and Jackson, Mich., and with warehouses at Boston, New 
York, and Chicago. The volume of business aggregated 
more than three-quarters of a million dollars a year, and 
more than five hundred men were employed. He suc- 
ceeded in carrying these various interests through the 
panic of 1892 to 1894, but because of some differences 
arising in the management which Mr. Wilder and his 
friends could not adjust, an assignment was made in the 
fall of 1895. This disaster Mr. Wilder opposed, feeling it 
to be wholly unnecessary. He was thought up to this time 
to have a competence, but this disaster left him without 
a dollar when he was 40 years of age and with $50,000 of 
his own debts and even a larger amount that he had in- 
dorsed for those who were cooperating and working with 
him. 

He was urged by many of his closest friends to go into 
insolvency, but, refusing to take their advice, he ultimately 
paid 100 cents on every dollar of indebtedness, although 
before he was able to pay anything the interest had added 
nearly half as much more. 

In 1897 Mr. Wilder brought out the famous free-level 
oil-stove patents, the first being applied for in April of 
that year, and it is now being successfully manufactured 
in Gardner, Mass. 

When 45 years of age Mr. Wilder took up the study of 
the law, in order that he might engage in the practice of 

[12] 



Address of Mr. Paige, of Massachusetts 

business and patent matters before the United States 
courts. He gained admission to practice in these courts 
and afterwards identified himself with a firm of patent 
lawyers in this city. In subsequent years he became an 
expert in corporation, bankruptcy, patent, and general 
business laws, placing many business concerns that were 
in a precarious condition in good financial status. While 
he is best known for his activity in the business world as 
a man of action, he was also a man of sound thinking, as 
was displayed by his ready grasp of the currency question. 

On April 15, 1908, Mr. Wilder addressed the House 
Committee on Banking and Currency on the subject of the 
Aldrich bill, the invitation to do so coming from Senator 
Weeks, of Massachusetts, then a Member of the House, 
and at that time one of the House members of that com- 
mittee. Mr. Wilder was practically the only layman who 
addressed the committee, and his address was subse- 
quently issued by the committee in pamphlet form. 
About that time Mr. Wilder wrote a diagnosis of the con- 
ditions then existing, entitled "My Notions on the Cur- 
rency Question," which was thought to clearly explain 
the situation as it then existed. 

The next year he went abroad to study the monetary 
systems of Germany and Austria, visiting all the im- 
portant centers and carrying letters of introduction to 
leading bankers, but he returned convinced that the bank- 
ing systems of the Old World were inapplicable to this 
country. 

I am confident that William H. Wilder would wish that 
no extravagant words of praise or fulsome eulogy should 
be spoken on this occasion. He was a plain-spoken, hon- 
est, sincere, and modest gentleman. Human though he 
was, he valued appreciation, as we all value it, but it is 
well at a time like this to recall those qualities in a man 
which cause men to admire him — absolute honesty, in- 
flexible integrity, unswerving loyalty, and high purpose. 

[13] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Wilder 

One of his leading characteristics was his supreme op- 
timism. He manifested it in every relation of life. He 
believed in mankind and that it was forging forward 
rather than backward. He believed in the men who were 
associated with him in business, political, social, religious, 
and fraternal activities, and therefore men believed and 
trusted in him. He was a man of firm and positive con- 
victions, having strong views on all subjects. Although a 
Republican and a firm believer in the policies of that 
party, and believing in party organization as necessary to 
the proper administration of the Government, he was 
nevertheless broad and liberal in his views, and his re- 
spect for the opinions of others was such that he enter- 
tained no ill will nor unkindly feeling toward any man 
who might differ with him or who belonged to another 
political party. 

Of him former Congressman Samuel W. McCall, of 
Massachusetts, says: 

I can speak from the point of view of one who served with 
William Henry Wilder during his first Congress. His health was 
in a critical condition when he became a Member of the House, 
and I suppose continued so throughout his service, but his energy 
and capacity were such that he did a great deal of work and did 
it very effectively. He had a command of business and financial 
subjects, and his speeches upon them while he was a Member 
were valuable contributions. I remember that when one of the 
tariff bills — I think the one upon the cotton schedule — was re- 
ported to the House from the Committee on Ways and Means it 
was arranged that I should open the debate for the Republican 
side. I promised Mr. Wilder some of my time. He seemed anxious 
on account of his health to get the matter off his mind at once, and 
I yielded to him to lead with the opening speech, and it was a 
good one. He was invited by an association of gentlemen in the 
banking business in Pittsburgh, Pa., to deliver an address upon the 
currency question, which he did, and did effectively. I had an 
opportunity to hear him do political speaking upon the slump, 
and he showed readiness and force and made a strong impression. 
He w;is a Ihoroiighlv loyal friend. 

[14] 



Address of Mr. Paige, of Massachusetts 



Such is the tribute of one of his colleagues on the Massa- 
chusetts delegation. How brief the fruition of our 
lamented friend's hopes in the Halls of Congress. But it 
was not his custom to complain at fate or misfortune. 
He was a firm believer in the eternal fitness of things. He 
sought to be faithful in all things, and so it was when 
fatal disease placed its relentless hand upon him and he 
was warned that the time of his departure was near he 
met his fate with fortitude and serenity. 

To his family and intimates his attainments in public 
affairs and his success in business were overshadowed in 
the love he had for his family and those nearest and 
dearest to him. 

His ability to serve others was one of the strong traits 
of his character. He was indeed " a friend in need " to 
many. His life was one of service in the highest and best 
sense of the word, and in these days of unrest and dis- 
content he remained an optimist. 

There may be seen in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, down 
in historic Concord, in Massachusetts, inscribed in endur- 
ing bronze upon the tombstone of Massachusetts's great 
Senator, George Frisbie Hoar, these words: 

Finally, I believe a republic to be greater than an empire, and 
though the clouds darken the horizon I believe to-day is better 
than yesterday, and to-morrow will be better than to-day. 

These sentiments found a ready response in the opti- 
mism of William H. Wilder. 



[15] 



Address of Mr. Greene, of Massachusetts 

Mr. Speaker : The sad part of the life of a Member of 
the House of Representatives is the break in the delega- 
tion in our respective States caused by the calling of one 
of our number from his life of usefulness and duty here 
to the life beyond the grave. The late William H. Wilder, 
whose memory we recall to-day, passed away September 
11, 1913. He was born in the State of Maine, and in early 
life he removed with his parents to the State of Massa- 
chusetts. He knew something of the hardships of life. 
The numbers who like himself only attended school dur- 
ing the winter months are rapidly decreasing. In his 
early life educational opportunities were exceedingly lim- 
ited. As a boy he worked on a farm. Whatever money 
he received for his services he understood the value of it, 
for "by the sweat of his brow he earned his bread." 
Although he lacked a collegiate course of training, he 
applied himself to the opportunities that were presented 
to him of obtaining knowledge that gave to him ability to 
successfully engage in business at an early age. He pos- 
sessed inventive genius and became interested in many 
useful patents. 

This, together with his environment arising from his 
being located in a manufacturing section of the Common- 
wealth of Massachusetts, caused him when but 29 years 
of age to enter business as a manufacturer, and later he 
organized a corporation known as the Wilder Industries. 
His history would seem to show more than ordinary 
activity. To most men what he had accomplished up 
to that period of his career would seem to have been 
sufficient to have merited a period of rest. But our late 
colleague only looked forward to greater activities and 

[16] 



Address of Mr. Greene, of Massachusetts 



broader accomplishments. Most of the young men of 
to-day who are intending to become members of the bar 
want high-school training, a full course in college, and 
then thorough education in law before seeking admission 
to practice law in our courts. At the age of 45 years he 
studied law and was admitted to the bar. 

Mr. Wilder was not only familiar with affairs in his 
own country, but he had been abroad twice and studied 
monetary affairs, and being a Republican and a protec- 
tionist he realized by experience and practical knowledge 
what advantages had accrued to his district, his State, 
and the country by the long continuance of the Repub- 
lican Party in power, and with full appreciation of the 
advantage which the policy of protection to American 
industries and American labor had conferred upon his 
section of the Commonwealth. 

He studied the tariff question from the foreign view- 
point in order that he might be enabled to know some- 
thing which would be of value to him in meeting ques- 
tions bearing upon the economic discussions in which he 
then had an ambition to participate. 

He was a candidate for election to the Sixty-first Con- 
gress, but was not successful in obtaining a seat in this 
body until the Sixty-second Congress, and he was re- 
elected to the Sixty-third Congress. He was especially 
equipped to defend the policies of his party and he par- 
ticipated actively in the debates upon the tariff question. 
In addition to his intelligent studies and wise conclu- 
sions relative to the tariff question Mr. Wilder was a thor- 
ough student of the money question. He knew the value 
of money and he had the ability to accumulate a fair 
portion of the world's goods. He was an interesting con- 
versationalist, because of his travels abroad and his ex- 
periences at home. He had a strong mind, but physically 
he was not strong enough to carry out all the purposes he 
had in view. 

4098°— 15 2 [17] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Wilder 

The close application to his duties here and the great 
strain of continuous service during the hot months of last 
summer affected his health unfavorably and resulted in 
his death at a time when his usefulness seemed to be of 
the greatest value to his State and to the country. 

His life, his experiences, and his accomplishments may 
well engage the attention of the youth of to-day. 

They should inspire encouragement and hope to the ris- 
ing generation. They show that industry, determination, 
and adherence to definite principles will produce a re- 
ward in the United States of America not afforded in any 
other country in the world. 



[18] 



Address of Mr. Roberts, of Massachusetts 

Mr. Speaker: The occasion that has called us together 
to-day is one of sadness and deep solemnity. We meet 
to pay a last and heartfelt tribute to the memory of our 
late colleague, William H. Wilder, who passed to eternal 
rest in the very prime of his manhood and the full fruition 
of his usefulness as a citizen and a legislator. The exac- 
tions and stress of service as a Representative in Congress 
afford little or no opportunity for that close intimacy of 
association, among those from the same State even, which 
is necessary to a just estimate of the full life and charac- 
ter of a man, and I can only speak of Mr. Wilder as I 
knew him by public as distinguished from close personal 
acquaintance. He was a man of high ideals and indomi- 
table persistency in seeking to attain them. No official act 
or vote of his was ever prompted or influenced by private 
or selfish interest. His life had been crowded with busi- 
ness activity before his election to Congress, and he made 
full use of the intense energy and great ability by which 
he had forged to the front in the business world in for- 
warding the interests and desires of his constituents. He 
was very regular in attending the sessions of the House. 
In the latter months of his illness it was pathetic to see 
him summoning all his strength of mind to aid him in 
repressing the weariness and pain he was suffering in 
order that he might remain on the floor and discharge his 
full duty to the constituency he represented. For many 
months before his failing health compelled him to forego 
attendance upon the sessions of Congress he denied him- 
self all social relaxation and enjoyments that he might 
conserve his failing strength for the better discharge of 
his public duties. 

[19] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Wilder 

Mr. Wilder was essentially a self-made man. He had 
no wealthy relative or friend to aid him either in acquir- 
ing an education or gaining a foothold in business. His 
education was only such as a boy who worked on a farm 
summers could get in the country schools during the 
winter sessions, and the meager instruction ceased when 
he was but 16 years of age. He had ambition, determina- 
tion, and perseverance; qualities which united with a will- 
ingness to work and work hard are certain to bring suc- 
cess in whatever line of effort their possessor may employ 
them. Lack of higher education or want of opportunity 
at hand were no handicap to such a man as our late col- 
league. Utilizing to the utmost such knowledge as he 
had he went boldly into the world and fought his way 
steadily upward. Few successful men of his time have 
entered upon so many and such varied lines of activity, 
and it is a remarkable tribute to his versatilitj'^ that after 
28 years of unremitting toil he should study law, be ad- 
mitted to practice, and thereafter utilize his newly ac- 
quired profession in the furtherance of his business as a 
manufacturer. Success as a business man or as a profes- 
sional man is generally the limit of attainment of most 
individuals, but with him it was success in both. Nor did 
the rare qualities of his fertile brain end there, for he 
shone as an inventor as well, no less than 50 patents hav- 
ing been issued to him in the course of his busy life, each 
and all of them covering some useful conception of his 
active brain. That he was imbued with a broad, human 
sympathy for the toiling masses, from and through whom 
he had risen, is amply and splendidly testified by the fact 
that during the 38 years he had been an employer of labor 
not a strike, lockout, or disagreement marred his relation 
with those he employed. His career is a splendid illustra- 
tion of the possibilities open to every boy in the land, and 
no greater incentive to rise above environment could be 



[20] 



Address of Mr. Roberts, of Massachusetts 

given a boy than to be taught the story of his life. Truly 
may it be said of William H. Wilder that his life was not 
lived in vain, that his influence and deeds all made for 
the uplift and betterment of his fellow man, and his rec- 
ord of achievement both as a private citizen and a public 
official is one of which his constituents, his many friends, 
and his bereaved family may well feel proud. 



[21] 



Address of Mr. Thacher, of Massachusetts 

Mr. Speaker: William H. Wilder was born in 1855 in 
Maine, A brief glance of his life will show his character- 
istic energj^ and industry. When he was 11 years old his 
family inoved to Massachusetts, and he worked as a boy 
on a farm, attending school in winter. When he was 17 
he went into mercantile business, and at the age of 29 he 
went into manufacturing. 

During all his life he was a keen student and mastered 
not only his own business, but he found time to study 
carefully a wide range of subjects. When he was 45 
years of age he began, what is somewhat remarkable for 
a man of that age, the study of law, and was subsequently 
admitted to the bar. 

He found time to study some of the great economic 
questions of the present day, including the currency and 
the tariff. He visited Europe in 1909, 1911, and 1912, not 
as an idle tourist, but he found opportunity both for 
recreation and for study and reflection. During all of 
these years he was the head of a successful and large 
manufacturing business. In 1910 he turned his energies 
into a new field. He became the Republican candidate 
for Congress in the fourth Massachusetts district. He was 
elected to the Sixty-second and Sixty-third Congresses. 
While he was in Congress he served his constituents faith- 
fully and conscientiously. His health began to fail in 1913. 
Sustained by his courage and pluck, he continued hard at 
work during the early part of the extra session of 1913. 
In spite of his indomitable energy and will he continued 
to fail. He died on September 11, 1913. 

This is the brief record of the life of an active, busy 
man. He was no idler; he believed in work. From his 

[22] 



Address of Mr. Thacher, of Massachusetts 

early days, when he worked as a boy on a farm, to the 
time when he sat in Congress he was always hard at work. 
He worked not for himself, but he showed his devotion 
and loyalty to everything that tended to the welfare of his 
town, State, and countr5^ I understand that Mr. Wilder's 
religious affiliations were with the Congregational Church, 
a church whose history has been closely interwoven with 
that of New England since our colonial days. Whatever 
were his religious views, I think that he must have be- 
lieved that to whatever creed one may belong the best 
way to practice one's religion is to live a useful and active 
service toward our brother man and our God. 



[23] 



Address of Mr. Mitchell, of Massachusetts 

Mr. Speaker : Just as the beautiful summer season was 
drawing to a close and the somber, melancholy days of 
autumn were at hand death came and struck down Wil- 
liam H. Wilder in the full bloom of life, before the hoary 
blasts of the winter of life had come to weaken, to impair, 
to chill, and to deaden. The strong, vigorous, self-reliant, 
and aggressive man that for nearly half a century had 
made his own way, buffeted every storm, overcame many 
obstacles, and had arrived at a place of power and influ- 
ence in the business world, honor and distinction in the 
political field, and of esteem and respect in his town, his 
State, and the Nation, fell. A family grieved at the loss 
of its head, its guide, and its protector; a town mourned 
at the departure of its leading citizen; a State regretted 
the loss of one of its best Representatives; and a Nation 
over its great Capitol lowered the American flag, respect- 
fully marking his passing. And to-day in this hallowed 
chamber of the National Legislature the associates and 
colleagues of the deceased Congressman gather to paj' 
their tribute of respect to the memory, the life, the charac- 
ter, and public services of Hon. William H. Wilder. 

Many great men have come to Congress from the State 
of Maine. That State has played an important part in 
many fields of human effort. Her sons and daughters are 
a strong, vigorous, wholesome type of American citizen- 
ship. It was in this splendid State, in the city of Belfast, 
on May 14, 1855, that William H. Wilder first saw the 
light of day. The first 11 years of his life were spent there. 
Shortly after the close of the Civil War his parents moved 
to Massachusetts. The first year that he came to Massa- 
chusetts he began working, first on the farm during the 

[24] 



Address of Mr. Mitchell, of Massachusetts 



summer months and then wood chopping dm'ing the win- 
ter, getting what schooling he could during the autumn 
months of the year. This schooling ceased altogether as 
far as the country school was concerned when he was only 
16 years of age. The following year, when only 17 years 
of age, he embarked in business for himself and continued 
as a constantly increasing employer of labor up to the 
date of his death. The boy who afterwards was to head 
a great business concern laid the foundation by mastering 
a trade. He became a painter and engaged in this busi- 
ness in its various branches. No employee worked harder 
than he; none was more courageous or more desirous of 
pleasing. 

One phase of his work was the painting of church 
spires, and this sturdy young man knew no fear or fal- 
tered not at any task, however hazardous it might be, that 
came to him in his line of business. It is needless to say 
that the boy who became a toiler at the age of 11 found 
himself at the age of 29 the head and owner of a success- 
ful business. But, as he prospered, step by step, new fields 
beckoned to him and he had about made up his mind to 
dispose of his business and strike out for the West, where 
the ambitious and adventurous 30 or 40 years ago directed 
their footsteps. But Gardner, where he had been building 
a business, a name, and reputation, was beginning to rec- 
ognize the latent powers of this young man, and his 
friends there induced him to remain and engage in a new 
business, offering greater opportunities and a wider field 
of development. 

A partnership was formed and a new oil-stove company 
entered the field. It was at this time that the inventive 
brain of young Wilder began to revolutionize this busi- 
ness. It was at this time he launched forth in the field 
where were to be witnessed his greatest achievements. 
The history of our country reveals the fact that the brain 
of the New Englander, or Yankee, as he was called, was 

[25] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Wilder 

indeed an inventive one. It has been said that " necessity 
is the mother of invention." New England, blest in 
many ways by God, offered not many opportunities with 
rock-bound coast and stony soil for the teeming thousands 
that began to people its hills and dales to eke a living 
from its bosom. Other ways must be found and the in- 
ventive genius began to manifest itself. 

Time forbids and the occasion does not justify a further 
digression into a field that has brought fame, wealth, hap- 
piness, comfort, and prosperity not alone to her people 
but to all the people of the civilized world. Let it suffice 
that the ingenuity, industry, and enterprise have placed 
that great section of the country in the ver}'^ van of Ameri- 
can States. 

Nature had been kind to William H. Wilder. It gave 
him a great, big body and big mind. With tireless energy 
he engaged in the new business, and his brain began to 
fashion in form inventions in the business that afterwards 
brought fame, influence, wealth, and prosperity. Not a 
year elapsed but what some invention of his creative brain 
was patented, and up to the time of his death some 50 
had been granted to him by the Patent Office. Others 
more familiar may trace his business career in detail. 
One may speak of the crashing of his great enterprise to 
the ground, its rehabilitation and manly settlement of all 
obligations, dollar for dollar. Another may tell of the 
disastrous fire that wiped out his plant and of his mighty 
task of rebuilding without a day's cessation of business. 
Some may tell of fights to preserve the integrity of his 
patents, but all will unite in saying that his business was 
a great success, honestly conducted, independently main- 
tained, and to-day flourishing and growing, although the 
creative brain and guiding hand are stilled in death. 

Fourteen years before his death Mr. Wilder took up the 
study of law, and he pursued his studies with all the dili- 
gence, regularity, and success that characterized his other 

[261 



Address of Mr. Mitchell, of Massachusetts 



efforts. He was admitted to practice in the various United 
States courts and also in the District of Columbia. He 
felt keen satisfaction over his success in the law, because 
it was obtained in a study snatched from the busy hours 
of days crowded with a constantly expanding business. 

But Mr. Wilder had another side that has been mani- 
festing itself for some years. Always interested some- 
what in public affairs as they pertained to his town, his 
State, and the Nation, he now turned his mind, his 
thoughts, and his ambition toward service in the Congress 
of the United States. His struggle, his efforts, and his final 
success in being elected was only another indication that 
" Where there is a will there is a way," and that despite 
every obstacle this man of fixed determination, inflexible 
mind, strong conviction, and ceaseless energy was chosen 
to represent a great constituency in the very heart of the 

old Bay State. 

His achievements here find eloquent recognition from 
those who were long associated with him in this chamber. 
They form a bright page in the legislative annals of this 
great body. His service covered one term and several 
months of another. His extensive business dealings, his 
grasp of the great business questions of the day, his wide 
reading and studies pursued in many fields, his journeys 
to every section of this country and to the great cities of 
the Old World, his ready sympathy, wide experience, the 
tireless industry of the man, and the confidence of the 
people of his district made him a strong and impressive 
figure in the House. 

His successor has covered many phases of his business, 
social, political, and religious life. I speak of him as an 
associate, as a neighbor, almost, and as a distinguished 
citizen of Massachusetts. I knew the strength of his lance, 
the quality of his mettle, the aggressiveness of his nature, 
the bigness of his heart, the generosity of his impulses, 
and the sturdiness of his character. I grieve over his de- 

[27] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Wilder 

parture. I sympathize with his family, his town, and his 
State. The memory of that beautiful Sabbath afternoon 
will never be effaced from my mind as I saw surrounding 
his bier the humble and the lowly, the rich and the power- 
ful, the captain of industry and the laborer in the factory, 
the business associates, the brothers in the societies in 
which he held membership, the representatives of the 
town, of the Commonwealth, and of the Nation. I heard 
ringing in my ears the words of the clergyman as he spoke 
feelingly, simply, and truly of this son of Gardner. I 
saw the tear-stained faces and felt the glow of affection 
and of sympathy that pervaded all, and I believed that 
this good and faithful servant who had laboriously toiled 
upward and onward over the rugged road of life had done 
the Master's work well and faithfully and had gone to a 
reward that passeth understanding. 

May his struggles, his sacrifices, and his achievements 
prove an inspiration and encouragement to American 
youth, to the end that this great Republic may continue 
its splendid mission for good for all the people in all the 
years that are to come. 



[28] 



Address of Mr. Rogers, of Massachusetts 

Mr. Speaker: The Hon. William H. Wilder, the Rep- 
resentative in Congress of the third Massachusetts dis- 
trict, died September 11, 1913, in the 59th year of his age. 
It becomes my duty and privilege, at this memorial serv- 
ice of the body of which he was an honored Member, to 
refer to the loss which the House has sustained in his 

death. 

Mr. Wilder was a man nearly twice as old as I am — 
indeed, his son and I were in Harvard together; and I had 
never met him until last April, when I came to Washing- 
ton for the special session of the Sixty-third Congress. It 
may, therefore, for these two reasons seem somewhat pre- 
sumptuous for one so much younger, without even the 
excuse of long acquaintance, to add his voice to the many 
voices which, with so much better right, are to-day refer- 
ring to Mr. Wilder's career. 

But from the first day of the session Mr. Wilder seemed 
to extend to me an almost paternal interest. Time after 
time, day after day, we would sit side by side during the 
long' debates, and he would, out of the fullness of his ex- 
perience, tell me something of liis scheme of life, some- 
thing of what he had undergone, and something of his 
aspirations for the future. He did not hesitate to speak 
of the fact that he was afflicted with an incurable disease, 
and that the end was certain to come at no very remote 
period, whether it might be a few months, or perchance 
a few years, in the future. Time and again, during the 
luncheon hour, I have watched him eat but a small frac- 
tion of the amount which his hearty appetite would have 
permitted him to enjoy. Yet, in thus subjecting himself 
to the insistence of his physician, I never heard him utter 

[29] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Wilder 

one word of complaint. And this characteristic, relatively 
unimportant in itself, I like to think was typical of the 
whole character of the man. I have referred to his relat- 
ing to me some of the incidents of his career; I always 
fancied that in what he said he was seeking, though veiy 
guardedly, to convey a suggestion which the older man 
knew would be or ought to be useful to the younger. I 
remember, for example, that one day when we were chat- 
ting a third Member of the House came to us and told us 
gleefully how he had succeeded in procuring for himself, 
through methods perhaps a trifle sharp, but yet certainly 
not dishonest, a larger share of a certain distribution than 
would have come to him otherwise. When the man left 
us alone, Mr. Wilder said to me, " Rogers, that sort of 
thing does not pay; I have been watching the men who do 
it for a good many years, and I never saw one yet who did 
not suffer as a result, both in his own moral fiber and in 
the esteem with which he was regarded by his fellows." 

No Member of the House appeared more rugged in 
health than did Mr. Wilder; powerful of figure, sturdy in 
speech as in appearance, no man was a truer product of 
the best in our splendid New England civilization. 
Through the redistricting of Massachusetts in 1912 it 
chanced that 18 of the towns which, as part of the fourth 
district, Mr. Wilder had represented in the Sixty-second 
Congress, are now a part of the fifth district, which I rep- 
resent. As I went up and down those communities a year 
and a half ago, it was a pleasure to observe how generally 
Mr. Wilder was known by their citizens; and it was a 
greater pleasure to learn how universally he was re- 
spected — aye, even loved — by every clement. His simple 
strength of character, his unaffected facility in meeting 
all sorts and conditions of men endeared him in an un- 
usual way to his constituents. This circumstance and the 
fidelity with which he had cared for the wants, great and 
small, of his people made the task of his successor indeed 

[30] 



Address of Mr. Rogers, of Massachusetts 

a difficult one. And yet the service has been an inspira- 
tion, too. 

The last time I ever saw Mr. Wilder in life was one 
beautiful balmy afternoon last summer, when, as I was 
passing through the park on the banks of the Potomac, I 
saw him and his wife, to whom he was devoted and of 
whom he loved to talk, sitting there in the sunshine. The 
peace of his expression and the wave of the hand with 
which he greeted me as I passed will be the memorjj^ of 
the man which I shall cherish through the years. 



[31] 



Address of Mr. Morrison, of Indiana 

Mr. Speaker: As it was my good fortune to be associ- 
ated in our work as Members of the House with William 
Henry Wilder, who was and is and ever is to be our 
friend, and in honor of whose memory we are met to-day, 
I have craved permission to speak briefly of his life and 
character. 

His was a mind and disposition well suited to the varied 
problems with which a legislator must deal and the count- 
less duties that are cast upon him daily and almost hourly 
while the Congress is in session. He thought in a straight 
line, refused to be carried off his feet by every shifting 
wind of doctrine that chanced to blow, and finally reached 
a conclusion which he was ready and willing to defend 
against every challenge. 

His life work had given him an ideal preparation for 
his labors here, for here we face duties that require us to 
have practical knowledge of industry and commerce, of 
the farm, the store, the factory, the mine, of human 
nature, of human conditions and conditions inhuman, of 
law and the history of its evolution, and of practically 
everything that affects the Republic or its people. Only 
a myriad-minded man could be equipped for every such 
duty, but many men have by wider experience been fitted 
for a wider range and larger fraction of their duties here. 
Mr. Wilder was one of those thus more widely schooled 
and more fully equipped. 

He was born at Belfast, Me., May 14, 1855. . In 1866 he 
moved to Massachusetts, the State that learned to honor 
him and which he honored. Until he was 17 years of age 
his life was spent on the farm and in school. He then 
gave himself to mercantile pursuits until he reached his 

[32] 



Address of Mr. Morrison, of Indiana 



twenty-ninth year. He next devoted himself to manufac- 
turing and invention, more than half a hundred patents 
having been granted to him for the products of his own 
genius, skill, and patient toil. He studied law and became 
learned in the profession, his special interest in that line 
of work leading him to become an expert in patent ques- 
tions, proceedings, and litigation. 

I doubt not that it was his special knowledge and pecul- 
iar qualifications for the work that led to his appointment 
as a member of the Committee on Patents, on which he 
served during the period of his membership in the Con- 
gress. In no other capacity could he have been intrusted 
with greater responsibility or rendered a greater service. 
It was President Lincoln who said that our patent vsystem 
is intended to " add the fuel of self-interest to the fire of 
genius." He who has studied the question most knows 
best that the American patent system lies at the very 
foundation of American industrial and commercial su- 
premacy. 

As a member of the same committee, having no special 
knowledge of the patent system or of the questions pend- 
ing before the committee, but having a lively apprecia- 
tion of the immense importance of the entire subject, I 
found him able and willing to give patient and sympa- 
thetic aid. I felt secure in his knowledge and in his sound 
judgment. I owe him much and have repaid him nothing. 
Mr. Wilder was a man of broad vision and culture. 
His interest ran far beyond the limits of his own employ- 
ment, profession, or other gainful pursuits in life. In his 
travels he visited the countries of the Old World, studying 
many things of general interest, among which were the 
tariff, banking and currency, and the rising and falling 
value of the dollar. He returned to renew his studies 
again and again. 

That he had mechanical taste and skill is evidenced by 
the fact that he held a license as a steam yacht's master. 

4098° — 15 3 [33] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Wilder 

In the fraternal world he found his chief est pleasure in the 
ancient and honorable order of Free and Accepted Masons, 
in which he was advanced to the rank of Knight Templar. 
Though born too late in the century to be a soldier in 
the Civil War, he was an honorary member of the Grand 
Army of the Republic. 

In all the relations of life he found his rightful place 
and measured up to the demands of every duty. As hus- 
band and father he was true to all the members of his 
household. Sons and daughters were given to him. They 
survive him and have great reason to be proud of the life 
and character of the father whom they have loved and 
lost awhile. A widow mourns his death, but her sorrow 
for his death must be tempered by deathless gratitude for 
the fine qualities and rich fruitage of his life. 

As a thoughtful and earnest man we would expect to 
find in him definite convictions on that subject which is 
the most universal fact and experience in human life — 
religion. He had his convictions. In the matter of church 
affiliation he was a strict and devoted member of the Con- 
gregational Church. He found it in his heart, and he took 
the time to assume the responsibilities and perform the 
labors of the superintendent of his Sunday school. I 
know no finer employment for a broad-minded, big- 
hearted, busy man of the world. I know of no finer man 
for such a task. The earnest, thoughtful man who faces 
the members of his Sunday school once each week may 
become of advanced years, but he can never grow old. 
The last time I had the pleasure of a conversation with 
him we sat at lunch together, and from a short prelimi- 
nary talk of the questions likely to be involved in the bills 
before our committee drifted out into a free and frank 
discussion of things great and fundamental in life, of its 
deep and final philosoph3% and of the inevitable end. 

He was even then within the tightening grasp of a 
malady that is catalogued as fatal. He was standing con- 

[34] 



Address of Mr. Morrison, of Indiana 



sciously in the presence of the probability of impending 
death. In that presence he was serene and unafraid. He 
did not yield himself a willing subject to enfeebling fears. 
He rather took good counsel of his hopes and courage. 
He rejoiced in the possibility of prolonged life with 
its continuing privilege of efficient and satisfactory serv- 
ice. I knew, less from what he said than from the manner 
of the saying, that he had long been accustomed to live 
in the conscious presence of two worlds, the world that 
is and the world that is to be. A sojourner in the one, in 
love with its joys and its beauties, its privileges and its 
duties, he had learned that his birthright was citizenship 
in the other, and that he could find no abiding place until 
he had entered into his goodly heritage. For such a man 
life holds all of joy that is possible to mortals. He is 
grateful for life every day, and yet he is able to contem- 
plate death without a shudder and meet its issues serene 
and satisfied. When I try to fathom the thoughts of such 
a man, I am not tempted to believe that he had solved the 
mystery of life or the mystery of death. I am constrained 
to believe that he accepted both mysteries without the 
dreads and doubts that mystery so often casts into the 
minds and over the very souls of men less able to grasp 
an idea or discern a truth. 

When a thoughtful man contemplates the vaster uni- 
verse revealed to us by telescope and microscope, he can 
not but adopt as his own the sentiment of the German 
scientist who said to the young men in his class : 

Gentlemen, if the universe and our planet ever come to be gov- 
erned by a wisdom, science, and penetration on a plane no higher 
than we mortals are capable of understanding and mastering, then 
I would most fervently wish to be out of it and in a safer place. 

And so I fancy that our brother accepted the mystery 
of life and the mystery of death as assurances that the 
universe is in safe hands. Only the Infinite can grasp 



[35] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Wilder 

the infinite, and the Infinite must ever be a mystery to 
finite minds. 

To the man of clear and disciplined mind such mys- 
teries but furnish occasion for the firmer faith, for which 
he thanks God and takes courage. 

From the mere hints I have given as to the scope and 
qualities of the mind, character, and life of William 
Henry Wilder it is manifest that his was a full, well- 
rounded character, and that he lived the abundant life. 
For what he was and what he did we shall all hold him in 
reverent and hallowed memory. Inasmuch as there came 
to me a distinct personal advantage of his friendship, and 
there flowed into my life by virtue of our association a 
finer inspiration and renewed courage, I shall ever bear 
to him a lively sense of deathless gratitude. 



[36] 



Address of Mr. Peters, of Massachusetts 

Mr. Speaker: William Henry Wilder was a Member 
of this House in the last Congress. The delicate state of 
his health was the occasion of much concern to all his col- 
leagues, but I for one did not fully realize the danger 
which overshadowed his service here, and his untimely 
death was a great shock to me. 

William Henry Wilder was the type of man who 
arouses in Americans the greatest praise and admiration. 
In boyhood he experienced the hardships of hard manual 
work on a farm in the western part of our Common- 
wealth, and he was limited in his opportunity for self- 
education to a short attendance during the winter months 
at a local school. 

When a young man he became interested in mercantile 
life and developed a considerable business as the result 
of his own energy and perseverance. His ambition to in- 
crease his store of knowledge was a lasting characteristic, 
as witnessed by his study of law when a man of 40 and 
his successful admission to the bar, which resulted in a 
wide practice. 

To the American mind one who has a thirst for knowl- 
edge and who is also successful in the business world 
needs but one further attribute to command its complete 
admiration. We esteem highly the man who is strong 
enough to open the way to knowledge and who can at the 
same time make himself a factor in our business or pro- 
fessional world. Our admiration has never failed to be 
doubly stimulated when that same person proves himself 
to be a good citizen — one who shows a real patriotic inter- 
est in the problems of his own day and who unselfishly 
works for their solution. William Henry Wilder pos- 

[37] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Welder 

sessed all these qualifications, and his selection as Rep- 
resentative in Congress by the district in which he lived 
and worked is indicative of that high esteem in which he 
was held by those who were most intimately acquainted 
with him. 

Though his service in this body was comparatively 
brief, his uprightness and integrity were evident to all his 
associates here. His high sense of right and his unselfish- 
ness and his clear judgment were well known to all. His 
kindliness and sincerity made him a friend whose loss it 
is not easy to forget. 

It is meet that we should come together here in this 
place to pay our highest tribute to his memory. 



[38] 



Address of Mr. Oldfield, of Arkansas 

Mr. Speaker: It is always a sad and solemn occasion 
when we come together for the purpose of commemorat- 
ing the deeds of a departed colleague and friend. Wil- 
liam Henry Wilder, late a Representative in Congress 
from the State of Massachtisetts, was born in Belfast, Me., 
May 14, 1855, and removed to Massachusetts at the age of 
11 years. He worked on the farm during the summer and 
attended the public schools in the winter until he was 17 
years of age. He then entered the mercantile business 
and remained in that business until he reached the age 
of 29 years. He then engaged in the manufacturing busi- 
ness in the city of Gardner, where he lived until his death, 
on the 11th day of September, 1913. It was due to his 
energy and genius that the manufacture of oil stoves, 
which is an important part of the manufacturing life of 
the city of Gardner, was established and successfully car- 
ried on there. 

Mr. Wilder was elected to the Sixty-second Congress on 
the Republican ticket by the narrow margin of 130 votes 
and was reelected to the Sixty-third Congress by more 
than 3,000 plurality, which shows that his services in Con- 
gress were appreciated by his constituents, and therefore 
his popularity was increasing. While Mr. Wilder was a 
stanch, and, I might say, partisan Republican, and a man 
of strong convictions, yet he accorded to others equal sin- 
cerity of conviction, and his Republicanism and partisan- 
ship were not of an offensive character. 

At the beginning of his service in the House he was, at 
his own request, assigned to a place on the Committee on 
Patents. We served on the committee together during his 
entire service in the House, and I found him to be a most 

[39] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Wilder 

lovable and companionable man. He was very much in- 
terested in the work of the committee, and I do not recall 
that he missed a single meeting of the committee during 
his entire service until his health began to fail and he was 
admonished by his physician that he must take a rest. 

In passing, I might say that Mr. Wilder, in addition to 
being a successful business man, was also a lawyer and 
inventor. During his career as a manufacturer and in- 
ventor he had granted to him by the Patent Office more 
than 50 patents of utility. He was really an expert in 
patent matters; hence was a very valuable member of the 
committee. 

Mr. Wilder did not speak often, but what he said at- 
tracted attention because of his wide experience, thor- 
ough study, and sincere conviction regarding the subjects 
discussed. In the later years of his life he traveled ex- 
tensively, studying financial and other economic ques- 
tions, and he discussed these questions on the floor of 
this House and in private conversation in a very enter- 
taining and interesting manner. 

He came from sturdy New England stock and was early 
in life thrown upon his own resources, and by indomita- 
ble energy and determination his efforts were crowned 
with success. He had the confidence of his constituents 
and the admiration of his colleagues, and I shall long 
remember the many kindnesses and courtesies shown me 
by William Henry Wilder, 

He was cheerful in disposition and optimistic in his 
ideals, and was at all times ready and willing to render a 
service to his friends or the country. Those who knew 
him intimately for a great many years testify that his 
home life was ideal, and that he was a kind husband, lov- 
ing father, and a generous friend. The world is better 
because of his life and example. 



[40] 



Address of Mr. Winslow, of Massachusetts 

Mr. Speaker : In the death of Hon. William H. Wilder, 
late Member of Congress representing the third Massa- 
chusetts congressional district, our Commonwealth and 
our country have lost a man whose devotion to duty was 
of the highest order. 

Mr. Wilder was a Member of the Sixty-second Congress 
and had entered upon his duties in the Sixty-third. Un- 
fortunately his health began to fail during his iirst ses- 
sion, and he continued to lose strength constantly until 
the time of his death. 

It was not my good fortune to have intimate acquaint- 
ance with Mr. Wilder until the beginning of the Sixty- 
third Congress, but from that time on until the end of 
his life we became closer and closer friends, and it was 
my honor to receive from him many of his confidences, 
both as regards his public service and his private cares. 

From the rather intimate acquaintance so formed and 
developed I was able to learn reasonably well the aims, 
purposes, and ambitions of the man. 

Although at this time I am called to speak in a certain 
official way of Mr. Wilder, and so to give testimony as to 
his faithfulness to his trust, it is, however, more as a per- 
sonal friend that I would pay my tribute to his memoiy. 

He told me at one time and another of his experiences 
in life, with particular reference to his career in public 
service and his experiences in commercial undertakings. 
In the latter line he was conspicuously able to show to 
those who had to do with him, and to onlookers, the metal 
of which he was made. 

Good fortune smiled on him at times and again misfor- 
tune overtook him. In all cases he proved himself the 

man. 

[41] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Wilder 

In the sunshine of success he was generous almost to a 
fault, as many benefited by his hand could bear witness. 
In the shadow of adversity he carried his own burdens 
with credit to himself and in justice to all. 

Mr. Wilder was a man of many parts and excelled in 
various fields of study, investigation, and occupation. 

At the hour when all seemed to be ready for him to per- 
form a public work into which he might bring his unusual 
talents and display his exceptional energy we learned of 
his last illness and his death. 

Mr. Wilder was a modest man who made no vulgar 
parade of his attainments. Those who knew him best 
admired him most, but unfortunately, like many another 
gifted beyond the ordinary lot of man, he was retiring and 
overmodest. 

In his home town he was strong and beloved. At the 
House of Representatives of the United States those who 
had come to know him appreciated him and now those of 
us who are left hold his memory in high esteem. 

He has left to his family, and particularly to the sons 
who succeed to his commercial undertakings, an inherit- 
ance of great value and an example of a man who in the 
hour of peace was tranquil and dependable and in the 
hour of trial courageous and righteous. 



[42] 



Address of Mr. Gardner, of Massachusetts 

Mr. Speaker : It was my great privilege to serve in Con- 
gress with the late William Henry Wilder, and it is my 
sad duty to-day to offer a brief tribute to his memory. 

Mr. Wilder was born in Maine, but moved with his par- 
ents to Massachusetts as a boy and there received a pub- 
lic-school education. He became a citizen of Massachu- 
setts and early entered a mercantile life, and by intelli- 
gent and unwearying toil rose to the head of a large and 
prosperous business. Unlike many men of affairs, he was 
continually educating himself in matters outside his pro- 
fession, and found time, among other things, to study law. 
He was admitted to the bar when close to 50, in itself a 
sufficiently remarkable action. 

He was elected to Congress in 1910, and was even at 
that time in very indifferent health; but his indomitable 
will overcame physical discomfort, and he soon became 
an honored and useful Member of the House. He made 
a name for himself both on the floor and in committee, 
and when the time came for reelection was urged to run 
again, though his health by that time was very bad. But 
his desire to serve the public was stronger than any per- 
sonal consideration, and he entered the campaign and 
was reelected. 

It must seem to us that had he lived there was for him 
a long career of service to the State and a life full of years 
and honors; but an all-wise Providence had otherwise 
decreed, and in the prime of manhood Death's hand was 
laid upon his shoulder. He did not flinch; his courage 
was as high in that supreme moment as at any time in 



[43] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Wilder 

his life, and, with a smile on his lips, he answered, " I am 
here." 

Then mourn we not beloved dead, 

Even while we come to weep and pray; 
The happy spirit far hath fled, 

To brighter realms of endless day. 
Immortal Hope dispels the gloom — 
An angel sits beside the tomb. 



[44] 



Address of Mr. Treadway, of Massachusetts 

Mr. Speaker: My first meeting with the late Congress- 
man Wilder was a very informal one. I happened to be 
passing through Gardner, Mass., and desired information 
about roads to adjoining towns. Stopping in front of a 
manufacturing plant, I interrupted a man busily en- 
gaged in the directing of a group of men at work about 
the premises. He took especial pains to give me the in- 
formation I desired, and I proceeded on my way with the 
kindliest of feeling toward the man willing to stop im- 
portant work to furnish casual information to a total 
stranger. Surely it would have been the last thought to 
have come to me that within a very few years it would 
be my painful duty to announce to the House of Rep- 
resentatives the death of this gentleman with whom I was 
destined to be associated as colleague. 

Later the same spirit of friendliness was displayed 
when visiting Washington I came on this floor for the first 
time before taking my seat as a Member. Congressman 
Wilder sat beside me and endeavored to give me all en- 
lightenment he could as to method of procedure and 
duties of a Congressman. During the few months we 
were associated together as Members the same kindly 
spirit was ever present, showing that it was a natural 
trait of Mr. Wilder's to be of assistance to his friends. 

His success in life can be regarded as another example 
of the development of American manhood through hon- 
esty of purpose, strict attention to duties of business, and 
fair dealing with his associates. Without ostentation he 
was ever alert to the needs of his district and faithful in 
the discharge of his obligations to his constituents. By 
study and travel he fitted himself for special work 

[45] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Wilder 

wherein his service was of great value to his own district 
and the Nation. Others who were longer associated with 
him than I have spoken of these services. 

The great respect in which he was held by his inti- 
mates and neighbors was shown at his home in Gardner, 
where we attended the last sad rites. The entire town 
seemed anxious to show its love and respect for its dis- 
tinguished citizen. An impressive funeral oration, a spa- 
cious home filled with mourners, and the streets lined 
with sympathizers on that beautiful autumnal day all 
bore testimony of the love and respect felt for him. 
Surely Representative Wilder was a typical example of 
the best of American manhood, and his widow and family 
have the consolation of this monument to his memory. 

The Speaker pro tempore. The question now is on 
agreeing to the resolutions. 

The resolutions were agreed to. 

Then, in accordance with the resolutions heretofore 
adopted (at 3 o'clock and 11 minutes p. m.), the House 
adjourned until to-morrow, Monday, February, 9, 1914, 
at 12 o'clock noon. 



[46] 



Proceedings in the Senate 

Monday, September 15, 1913. 

A message from the House of Representatives, by J. C. 
South, its Chief Clerk, communicated to the Senate the 
intelligence of the death of Hon. William Henry Wilder, 
late a Representative from the State of Massachusetts, 
and transmitted resolutions of the House thereon. 

The Presiding Officer. The Chair lays before the Sen- 
ate resolutions of the House of Representatives, which 
will be read. 

The Secretary read the resolutions, as follows: 

In the House of Representatives, 

September 11, 1913. 

Resolved, That the House has heard with profound sorrow of 
the death of Hon. William H. Wilder, a Representative from the 
State of Massachusetts. 

Resolved, That a committee of 20 Members of the House, with 
such Members of the Senate as may be joined, be appointed to 
attend the funeral. 

Resolved, That the Sergeant at Arms of the House be authorized 
and directed to take such steps as may be necessary for carrying 
out the provisions of these resolutions, and that the necessary 
expense in connection therewith be paid out of the contingent 
fund of the House. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the 
Senate and transmit a copy thereof to the family of the deceased. 

Mr. Gallinger. Mr. President, in the absence of the Sen- 
ators from Massachusetts, I offer the following resolu- 
tions. 

The resolutions were read, considered by unanimous 
consent, and unanimously agreed to, as follows: 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with deep sensibility the 
announcement of the death of Hon. William Henry Wilder, late 
a Representative from the State of Massachusetts. 

[47] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Wilder 

Resolved, That a committee of six Senators be appointed by the 
"Vice President, to join the committee appointed on the part of the 
House of Representatives, to attend the funeral of the deceased. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate a copy of these reso- 
lutions to the House of Representatives. 

The Presiding Officer appointed under the second reso- 
lution as the committee on the part of the Senate Mr. 
Lodge, Mr. Weeks, Mr. Myers, Mr. Walsh, Mr. McLean, 
and Mr. Catron. 

Saturday, February 27, 1915. 
Mr. Kern. Mr. President, I desire to ask unanimous con- 
sent for the adoption of the following order : 

That at not later than 6.15 o'clock this evening the Senate will 
take a recess until 10.45 a. m. to-morrow, when memorial exercises 
will be held commemorative of the lives and public services of 
William H. Wilder, late Representative from the State of Massa- 
chusetts, and Forrest Goodwin, late Representative from the State 
of Maine, at the conclusion of which memorial exercises the Sen- 
ate will recess until 11 o'clock Monday morning. 

The Vice President. Is there any objection to the order? 
The Chair hears none, and the order is adopted. 

Sunday, February 28, 1915. 
(Legislative day of Friday, February 19, 1915.) 
The Senate reassembled at 10 o'clock and 45 minutes 
a. m., on the expiration of the recess. 

The Vice President. The Chair lays before the Senate 
resolutions of the House of Representatives, which will 
be read. 

The Secretary read the resolutions, as follows: 

In the House of Representatives, 

February 8, 191i. 
Resolved, That the business of the House be now suspended, that 
opportunity may be given for tributes to the memory of Hon. 
William Henry Wilder, late a Member of this House from the 
State of Massachusetts. 

[48] 



Proceedings in the Senate 



Resolved, That as a particular mark of respect to the memory 
of the deceased and in recognition of his distinguished public 
career the House at the conclusion of these exercises shall stand 
adjourned. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the 
Senate. 

Resolved, That the Clerk send a copy of these resolutions to the 
family of the deceased. 

Mr. Lodge. Mr. President, I offer the following resolu- 
tions. 

The Vice President. The resolutions will be read. 

The Secretary read the resolutions (S. Res. 555), as 
follows : 

Resolved, That the Senate expresses its profound sorrow on ac- 
count of the death of the Hon. William H. Wilder, late a Member 
of the House of Representatives from the State of Massachusetts. 

Resolved, That the business of the Senate be now suspended in 
order that fitting tributes may be paid his high character and dis- 
tinguished public services. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate a copy of these reso- 
lutions to the House of Representatives and to the family of the 
deceased. 



4098° — 15- 



[49] 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



Address of Mr. Lodge, of Massachusetts 

Mr. President: The death of William H. Wilder, Rep- 
resentative from the third Massachusetts district, ended a 
career which was essentially and typically American. It 
is the history of a man who by his own efforts and with- 
out the aid of a classical or technical education gained for 
himself a prominent place in the business community of 
the State, and who also became active and well known in 
public affairs and was returned to Congress by the people 
of his district. 

Although born in Maine, his parents moved to Massa- 
chusetts when Mr. Wilder was a boy of 11, and from that 
time he was forced to depend on his own exertions for 
support. He first found employment in farm work during 
the summer and in wood chopping during the winter, and 
it was only during the few weeks of autumn that he was 
able to attend the schools of the vicinity. Later he 
worked in the factories at Gardner, gaining that knowl- 
edge of machinery which was to be of such value to him, 
and taking advantage of the few opportunities for school- 
ing which presented themselves. But these opportunities 
ceased altogether when he was 16, and at 17 he entered 
business for himself as a painter and dealer in paints. 
Even at this early age he showed the same qualities of 
determination and perseverance, the same ability to gain 
a full and complete knowledge of the subject which inter- 
ested him, which contributed so largely to his success in 
later life. Leaving this business, he engaged in the manu- 
facture of oil stoves, and in 1890, when only 35, he became 

[51] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Wilder 

treasurer of a large company with plants in various parts 
of the United States. This project met with disaster, and 
five years later he found himself compelled to start anew 
in business with a burden of debt of more than $100,000 
hanging over hiin. He refused to assent to insolvency pro- 
ceedings and with undiminished courage started to build 
up again the wrecked enterprises. He was not content to 
be simply the manufacturer, the employer of labor, but set 
himself to perfect in every way the product of his factories. 
One improvement followed another, and when he died 
Mr. Wilder held more than 50 patents, the result of that 
intense application which was so characteristic of him. 

It was his experiences in this line of work which led 
him to take up the study of patent law at the age of 45, 
and, having begun, it was but natural to a man of his 
character to go thoroughly into the subject of the law. He 
was admitted to the bar and did not rest until he had be- 
come proficient in patent, corporation, and bankruptcy 
law and was able to appear in court in regard to all mat- 
ters in which he was interested. This in itself was an 
achievement for a man of his age, but during this time he 
was going steadily forward, building up the business in 
which his interest was centered, perfecting the output of 
his mills, and paying, with interest, every dollar of the 
obligations which rested upon him. 

Although the cares of business and of the law absorbed 
much of his time, his mind was not given to these prob- 
lems to the exclusion of all else. His interest extended 
to national problems, especially currency and the tariff, 
and he studied them with the same thoroughness, the 
same intense application, which he applied to everything 
which he undertook. Feeling that he could come to a 
better understanding of the currency problem by per- 
sonal study of the systems of other countries, Mr. Wilder 
traveled widely abroad, meeting those who were con- 
nected with the great banking institutions, and forming 

[52] 



Address of Mr. Lodge, of Massachusetts 

his own conclusions as to the best method of meeting the 
pressing needs of our own financial system. He studied 
the tariff in the same way, minutely and thoroughly, 
striving to master as far as one man could this intricate 
and complex question. 

When, therefore, the people of his district called him to 
represent them at Washington he came to his duties here 
with a mind trained to meet new problems and with a 
determination to devote all his energy and time to the 
service of his district and of his country. During his first 
term his health began to fail, and the disease which had 
fastened upon him gradually weakened his strength and 
made it harder and harder for him to attend to his duties, 
but weakness and pain could not change his character, 
and, until the last, he still endeavored to familiarize him- 
self with every side of legislation which was pending 
before Congress and to understand and judge fairly the 
many matters which came before him in the course of his 
work as a Representative. With few advantages he had 
made himself prosperous and successful, with only the 
simplest education he had become a lawyer of standing, 
and the talents which he possessed he had, during his last 
years, turned conscientiously and fully to the service of 
his country. In whatever he undertook he did his best, 
and in his death his district and his State have lost a 
faithful, diligent, and hard-working public servant. 



[53] 



Address of Mr. Weeks, of Massachusetts 

Mr. President: The reasons why men enter a political 
life vary greatly, but it is safe to say that some of those 
who make the most useful, and at the same time the least 
conspicuous, Representatives are the men who have had 
an active business career, have measurably succeeded in 
it and, having developed habits of industry and a public 
spirit without developing unusual powers of acquisitive- 
ness, are led to assume office as a public duty and with a 
sincere desire to serve their Government which, in many 
cases, has been more or less intimately connected with 
some of the instrumentalities which they have employed 
in their business affairs. 

Such a man was the late Representative William 
Henry Wilder, who represented for parts of two terms 
the third Massachusetts district in the House of Repre- 
sentatives. A son of Maine, with many of the strong 
qualities which are found in the native stock of that 
State and especially among those who have been asso- 
ciated with its sea-faring life, he became a resident of 
Massachusetts in boyhood, received his education in the 
common schools, and long before reaching his majority 
was an employer of labor, a relation which he maintained 
during his active business life. 

One of the governmental functions with the results of 
which there is almost universal satisfaction has been our 
patent system, enabling those of inventive genius to de- 
velop and protect their ideas so that there has been a 
very general incentive to produce labor-saving machinery 
and a very great number of articles which have added to 
the comfort of the human race. Mr. Wilder inherited a 
capacity for developing new ideas, and during a long 

[54] 



Address of Mr. Weeks, of Massachusetts 

business career was granted no less than 50 patents hav- 
ing to do very largely with the development of oil stoves 
and appurtenances connected with them. Some of his 
ideas in this business were revolutionary in their char- 
acter, and it can almost be said with absolute correctness 
that he was the father of that branch of the business as 
conducted to-day, not only in the ideas governing the 
character of the articles used, but in developing the busi- 
ness as a manufacturer and distributor of his products. 
In this respect he differed greatly from a very large class 
of inventive geniuses who have little or no business 
capacity and as a result are unable to profit to any con- 
siderable extent through their inventions. 

His career, however, as a business man was not one of 
uninterrupted success, and an incident connected with it 
shows better than could otherwise be demonstrated his 
high sense of personal integrity even when there were no 
legal claims. As I have said, he early became connected 
with the oil-stove industry, but for reasons over which 
he had no control the organization as originally formed 
became so involved that it was necessary to apply for a 
receivership. In the reorganization which took place Mr. 
Wilder took over a very considerable part of the busi- 
ness of the previous company, assuming a very large 
obligation in so doing, for which he was not directly or 
indirectly responsible, perfected the patent which con- 
trolled the product being manufactured, perfected the 
business organization, and, as a result, paid every dollar 
of the indebtedness for which he had pledged himself 
with 6 per cent interest, and in the following years 
accumulated a considerable property. 

Speaking of his inventive genius, a well-known firm of 
patent attorneys has recently written me relating to his 
patents and they closed their letter with this sentence : 

We say without qualification that he was one of the most bril- 
liant inventors that we have ever known in a long practice. 

[55] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Wilder 

Having put on a sound foundation his own personal 
business, Mr. Wilder directed his activities in other direc- 
tions, studying law and being admitted to the bar and to 
practice before all the courts when he was about 50 years 
of age. He became largely interested in financial matters 
and financial legislation, making a trip to Europe for 
the purpose of informing himself of the methods prac- 
ticed by European banks, and he later became a candi- 
date for Congress, where he was serving acceptably to 
his district at the time of his death. While that service 
was helpful in many directions, the best results were 
found in the work which he did in the Committee on 
Patents. It is not possible for the public to understand 
the benefits which are derived from personal experience 
in considering such intricate matters as our patent laws 
involve, and in this respect alone the service which Mr. 
Wilder performed in this one committee would have been 
sufficient to make his term in Congress distinctive. 

Soon after entering Congress he was attacked by a 
malady which he knew quite well must be fatal in its 
results. However, he did not cease his activities but 
continued his work until the very end. I think his great 
regret in giving up work was that he had not had more 
time to give to the Government the efficient and faithful 
service which a man of his years and experience might 
have looked forward to with certainty. Massachusetts 
has not been lacking in citizens of the kind represented 
by Mr. Wilder, and he stands high among those who have 
added materially to the State's industrial development 
and who have set a high example of personal integrity. 



[56] 



Proceedings in the Senate. 



The Vice President. The question is on agreeing to the 
resolutions submitted by the senior Senator from Massa- 
chusetts. 

The resolutions were unanimously agreed to. 

Mr. Burleigh. Mr. President, I submit the following 
resolution and ask for its adoption. 

The resolution was read, considered by unanimous 
consent, and unanimously agreed to, as follows : 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of 
Mr. Wilder and Mr. Goodwin the Senate do now take a recess until 
11 o'clock to-morrow morning. 

The Senate thereupon (at 11 o'clock and 25 minutes 
a. m.) took a recess until to-morrow, Monday, March 1, 
1915, at 11 o'clock a. m. 



[57] 



WILLIAM HENRY WILDER 

[From the Gardner (Mass.) Journal of September 18, 1913.] 

William H. Wilder was born May 14, 1855, in Belfast, 
Me. His father and father's father were mechanics and 
millmen, while his mother was a school-teacher. 

He lived in his native place until 11 years of age, the 
family removing to Massachusetts in the spring of 1866. 

During the first three years following the removal he 
worked on a farm, went to school in the winter, and 
after the long fall country school term was employed in 
the woods chopping. The next year he worked for a 
farmer who owned a card mill, quite a portion of the 
time being spent in the factory. Thus his knowledge of 
practical machinery began at the age of 14 years. The 
next year he was employed by a millman, who also 
owned a farm and who prepared chair stock for the 
Gardner factories. His schooling was finished in the 
country school when he was 16, the last of his work being 
done without much assistance from the teachers. 

starting in life 

The next few years were spent in the paint trade in the 
summer and in the Gardner shops in the winter. He 
went into business for himself when he was 17 years old 
and has been an employer ever since. He followed this 
business in Gardner until 1884, when he was 29 years of 
age, and there are few of the meetinghouse spires there- 
abouts which were erected at that time but what he has 
climbed. He acquired the business thoroughly in all of 
its branches, including house work, graining, paper hang- 
ing, decorating and fresco painting, sign and carriage 
work, and at the time he retired from the business had 
the largest store of its kind in the vicinity, operating a 
store covering the paint-trade lines, as well as stocks of 
crockery, glassware, silverware, and paper hangings. For 
some years he had desired a larger field of endeavor and 

[59] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Wilder 



he decided to close out this retail business, his purpose 
being to go West, but friends induced him to stay in 
Gardner, and the American Oil Stove Co. was formed — 
a partnership consisting of the late Alvin M. Greenwood, 
Calvin H. Hill, and Mr. Wilder. It was through their 
efforts that the oil-stove business was brought to Gardner. 

In the first years of the partnership, beginning in 1884, 
Mr. Wilder made the patterns and all the other parts, 
there being only two operators at that time. Beginning 
at the bottom of the business, Mr. Wilder knew every 
feature pertaining to it. He has made and directed per- 
sonally tools, dies, special machines, and has supervised 
and directed the improvements with such diligence that 
for a period of 20 years, up to 1909, not a year elapsed 
that at least one patent was not issued to him, he having 
taken out over 50 in all. His father, Jonas B. Wilder, 
was the inventor of the first sidehill plow, originally 
devised for working on a sidehill, now familiarly known 
as the swivel plow, which every farmer uses. Strange as 
it may seem, the last patent his father took out was issued 
the year before the first patent the son secured. 

His partners, Messrs. Greenwood and Hill, were con- 
nected with Heywood Bros. & Co., manufacturers of 
chairs. In those early days the management of the oil- 
stove business was left to Mr. Wilder; he was his own 
salesman and bookkeeper and general handy man. Some 
people wonder why he had such a firm grip and under- 
standing of everything that pertains to the business, but 
when these activities are considered it is plain enough. 

In the fall of 1889 and early in 1890 the oil-stove busi- 
ness of the country lapsed into a precarious condition on 
account of several contests that were going on in ref- 
erence to fundamental patents. This, however, had been 
anticipated by Mr. Wilder during his first five years in the 
business, with the result that he had taken out patents 
covering devices that did not infringe patents of the 
belligerents, with the result that the American Oil Stove 
Co. was about the only free concern out of 12 or 15 oil 
stove interests, and in the consolidation of the Central 
Oil Gas Stove Co. Mr. Wilder was a prominent factor. 
Thus Mr. Wilder 20 years ago asserted the quality of 

[60] 



William Henry Wilder 



independence in thought and action which was always a 
leading characteristic of the man. 

Mr. Wilder became treasurer of the large company, 
and the headquarters were removed to its factory at 
Florence, Mass., there being others at Greenwich, Conn., 
and Jackson, Mich., with warehouses at Boston, New 
York, and Chicago. The business of this concern was 
over three-quarters of a million dollars a year, about 500 
men being employed. Mr. Wilder carried these various 
interests through the panic of 1892-1894, but because of 
some differences arising in the management which Mr. 
Wilder and his friends could not adjust, an assignment 
was made in the fall of 1895. This disaster Mr. Wilder 
opposed, believing it to be wholly unnecessary. He was 
thought up to this time to have a competence, but this 
disaster left him with scarcely a dollar when he was 40 
years old, and $50,000 of his own debts and even a larger 
amount that he had indorsed for those who were co- 
operating and working with him. He was recommended 
by many of his best friends to go into insolvency, but he 
did not seem to be built that way and he paid 100 cents 
on the dollar to every person who held his obligation, 
although before he was able to pay anything the interest 
had added nearly half as much more. He had, however, 
two friends more sagacious than others, both old men, 
and the truth of the old saying was affirmed, " Old men 
for counsel and young men for war." One said, " Brother 
Wilder, this seeming disaster isn't going to harm you; 
gather up the fragments and try again." The other said, 
"Mr. Wilder, put up a high-toned reorganization and 
plenty of your friends will support you." 

SURMOUNTING DIFFICULTIES 

Mr. Wilder was offered the Gardner plant providing he 
could get not less than $150,000 out of $415,000 worth of 
creditors' claims to support his reorganization plan. In- 
side of a week he had obtained the cooperation of over 
$200,000. The reorganization was completed early in 
1896. During the five years previous the big company 
developed on the market at great expense a line of goods 
on which others owned the ground patents and with 

[61] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Wilder 

which the Gardner concern expected to continue, but just 
as the new company was organized beyond recall he 
learned that the patentees had sold him out. He had 
always insisted that he would never infringe the patents 
of others. He would furnish his own, but he would not 
infringe, although others were constantly using his pat- 
ents. This desertion of supposed friends for whom he 
had done much meant a new disaster unless surmounted, 
and Lincoln's old maxim of " Root, hog, or die," was at 
hand. During the next year Mr. Wilder brought out the 
famous free level oil stove patents, the first being applied 
for in April and was granted in December, 1897, and 
within five years these patents had driven the stoves of 
the parties who sold him out off the market and every- 
body went to making the free-level stoves even though 
they did infringe Mr. Wilder's patents. Thus he faced 
the experience of being sold out, and refusing to use the 
patents of another, and under the extremity of his need, 
produced others, only to have the very ones who sold him 
out come back and pirate the new patents, and because 
of the infringement of these patents lawsuits have been 
prosecuted by Mr. Wilder ever since. And because of 
these experiences and others, he believed that our patent 
laws are not properly enforced and that the law as it 
stands does not protect a man in the exclusive use of the 
inventions he has discovered, as the Constitution provides. 

OVERCOMING DISASTER 

April 19 (Patriot's Day), 1899, a disastrous fire visited 
the Gardner works of the company, destroying its main 
factory building. The power plant, however, and the 
foundry were saved. The factory was running on a 
holiday, being driven with orders. 

The fire was so fierce that both the office and shipping 
room copies of the orders, amounting to over $30,000, 
were destroyed. This fire was on Wednesday. That 
afternoon, before the fire was put out, a number of the 
directors were gotten together in Gardner, the Chicago 
member happening to be in town and the Boston member 
being summoned, and they voted to rebuild before the 
fire was out. The foundry took off a melt Saturday of 

[62] 



William Henry Wilder 



the same week, and within one week's time a temporary 
building 170 feet long had been erected and workmen 
commenced building stoves. Mr. Wilder referred with 
great glee to the various and many devices that were 
coddled up as makeshifts with which to manufacture 
their goods, nearly all of the machinery having been 
destroyed. 

Every man in the concern was kept employed who so 
desired, simply being informed that the best work pos- 
sible would be furnished him. The morning following 
the fire Mr. Wilder gathered his 17 heads of departments 
in the upper story of the old three-story factory whose 
wall furnished the buttress which stayed the fire, and 
remarked to them that he wished until the 1st daj"^ of 
July the utmost loyalty and endeavor of every man. If 
there were any " fearful or afraid " they should " turn 
back " then, as he wished no desertions between that 
time and July 1. Not one man hesitated, and this is the 
kind of men Mr. Wilder had then and always had sur- 
round him, many of those very men being still in his 
enterprises. 

Every customer on the company's ledger was notified 
that their orders were entirely destroyed and they were 
asked to send a copy if they had any placed that were 
unfilled. Nearly all responded and only a very few 
orders were canceled. 

AN example of his PERSEVERANCE 

Three years later came the great coal strike. It would 
hardly be expected that an oil-stove man would be very 
much interested in furnishing the people with coal when 
they would otherwise be forced to use his oil stoves. But 
he was reaping a large benefit from the enormous in- 
crease given the business, and the Gardner people were 
suffering for coal. None could be obtained. The story 
is too long to tell whys and wherefores, but Mr. Wilder 
was under the necessity of obtaining some coal if he 
would maintain even the opinion he held of himself. He 
went to 13 places in New York City, Jersey City, and New 
York State before he obtained the coveted prize. He 
started with $1,500 in gold and went to Vice President 

[63] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Wilder 

Loomis of the Lackawanna Road. He had plenty of coal 
but was short of cars. He then went to General Manager 
Torrey of the Delaware & Hudson. He had plenty of cars 
but was short of coal. He pleaded with Mr. Torrey to let 
him have cars upon which to load Mr. Loomis's coal, but 
he would not yield, and, so between coal and no cars 
and cars and no coal he was baffled for a moment. Fi- 
nally he went to Utica, in every place working through 
some of the big traders whom he had known for years. 

There were some 16 coal dealers in Utica, all of whom 
had plenty of coal for local consumption but were pro- 
hibited from sending out of the city. One dealer who 
sent two large loads down to New York early in the strike 
was unable to get a ton of coal afterwards. Mr. Wilder, 
however, in the first instance arranged with one of the 
big coal dealers to send him six or eight cars of coal, and 
left with him his $1,500. The dealer sent him three car- 
loads, but the moment the coal combine knew that he was 
sending coal out of town six cars of coal that were started 
from the pockets were diverted and the dealer was told 
he could have no more coal if he sent it out of town. So 
other methods had to be devised by Mr. Wilder. He 
engaged Jones, a Utica truckman, to haul the coal for him. 
He secured a box car on the West Shore tracks, no coal 
cars being available, and the truckman went to each 
dealer and bought a van of coal, paying cash for it, 
which Mr. Wilder furnished. His instructions were to go 
around to the 16 coal dealers once, and when he had made 
the rounds to go a second time. This was kept up until 
32 carloads of coal were put into Gardner in 31 days, and 
the famine was broken. 

Several cars that were left unsold Mr. Wilder turned 
over to the dealers, as it was not his purpose to pursue 
his activities as soon as the Gardner dealers could handle 
the situation. The first carload of 25 tons of stove coal 
that came into Gardner went into 100 homes. The plan 
adopted was that each one desiring coal was to state how 
much they used, how much they had on hand, and how 
much they wanted, and they were allotted in each of the 
three villages of the town such as would best supply the 
immediate and most pressing needs. Nearly all, how- 

[64] 



William Henry Wilder 



ever, from the beginning were supplied with enough to 
prevent suffering. The coal was furnished to people at 
$10 a ton, delivered, when it was selling for $12 in Boston 
and Worcester. Mr. Wilder was offered at one time 
$2,500 for his coal deal, but this was not the first nor the 
last thing that Mr. Wilder had been in for other purposes 
than personal profit. No charge w^as made for his serv- 
ices or expense of those of the persons who accompanied 
him to keep him from despair on this memorable trip for 
coal, and who made the remark that they were willing to 
come home after they had been to three places, but that 
every time Mr. Wilder was refused he seemed the more 
determined to get coal. There was over $500 left after 
paying all bills, the total transaction amounting to over 
$8,000. This money was distributed among the churches 
through the pastors, Protestant and Catholic alike, in 
proportion to their adherents, for use among the needy. 
During this coal strike every customer of the Central 
Oil & Gas Stove Co. was supplied with a proportionate 
part of the factory output, which was strained to its ut- 
most without any appreciable relief to the situation gen- 
erally. The concern could have sold everything it pro- 
duced at full retail prices through its Boston store had it 
been willing to do so and thrown overboard its customers, 
and made a great many thousand dollars thereby. His 
participation in this coal famine episode is in line wdth 
hundreds of other things which he has done for Gardner, 
principally among w^hich was, perhaps, the building of 
the Central Oil & Gas Stove Co., which started from noth- 
ing in 1884 and is now the fourth largest industry in the 

town. 

becomes a lawyer 

About 1900, when 45 years of age, Mr. Wilder took up 
the study of law. Having had quite a wide experience 
in business and corporation law and wishing to further 
increase his knowledge in these respects, he made ar- 
rangements with Thatcher B. Dunn, a leading laA\^^er, to 
direct his studies and tutor him every afternoon that was 
available to both of them. Mr. Wilder, wishing to prac- 
tice more particularly before the United States courts on 
account of all bankruptcy and patent matters being 

409S°— 15 5 [65] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Wilder 

handled exclusively in such courts, and being eligible by 
his many years' connection with a Washington office, took 
a two days' written examination in Washington, which 
he successfully passed and was admitted to the bar of the 
Supreme Court for the District of Columbia and the 
United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of 
Columbia, and from there took admission to the United 
States courts for the first district, which includes Massa- 
chusetts and practically all New England. After three 
years he became eligible for admission to the bar of the 
United States Supreme Court, which in turn gives admis- 
sion to the United States courts anywhere by simply 
taking the oath. This he obtained in the spring of 1909. 
Mr. Wilder did not cater to office practice, although quite 
frequently he settled an estate and drew deeds and 
papers, as were required. He took the most interest in 
intricate business problems and business troubles, he 
having set quite a few business concerns on their feet 
that were in imminent danger, being considered an ex- 
pert on corporation, bankruptcy, patents, and general 
business law. 

Naturally this class of legal work brought him in con- 
tact with many men of business and had given him an 
acquaintance and a knowledge of men that was possessed 
by few in the fourth district. 

This class of practice demonstrated to Mr. Wilder the 
necessity of so safeguarding his own industries that they 
might not suffer in times of depression or panic. His 
own experience had shown him that there were in certain 
business aggregations features which were not only 
ethically but practically wrong, and so he conceived the 
idea of a legitimate cooperation by the welding together 
of the various manufacturing concerns, whose lines of 
product were wholly different, but whose common in- 
terests were such that each might well cooperate with 
others to the material advantage of all. 

SOME RESULTS OF IIIS ACTIVITIES 

On April 15, 1908, in Washington, Mr. Wilder addressed 
the House Committee on Banking and Currency on the 
Aldrich bill then before the House. The invitation to 

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William Henry Wilder 



address the committee came through Congressman John 
W. Weeks, of Massachusetts, then a member of it. Con- 
gressman Fowler, then chairman of the committee, also 
introduced a bill. Mr. Wilder was opposed to both the 
Aldrich and the Fowler bills. The latter he thought was 
entirely impracticable; the former was based wholly on 
bonds. 

Mr. Wilder was practically the only layman who ad- 
dressed the committee, and stated to the members that he 
deemed it unfair that a bill in which the people were as 
much interested as the bankers should be controlled en- 
tirely by bankers. In any event both bills referred to 
were defeated and the bill that finally became a law was 
put through at a later session, Congressman Fowler being 
succeeded in the committee by Congressman Vreeland, of 
New York, so that our present emergency currency bill is 
known as the Aldrich- Vreeland bill. Mr. Wilder's ad- 
dress was recorded in the proceedings of the complete 
committee and was also issued by the committee sepa- 
rately, it comprising, in the statement and the many ques- 
tions asked him by members of the committee, 11 full 
octavo pages. 

About this time Mr. Wilder wrote a pamphlet entitled 
"My Notions on the Currency Question," and which was 
thought by many to clearly diagnose the conditions exist- 
ing at that time, when the Federal Government had 
on deposit with the national banks something over 
$200,000,000, argument being based on that fact. 

In the spring of 1909 Mr. Wilder spent a month on a 
trip to the Panama Canal, and here he was indebted to 
Senator Crane for the splendid reception he received at 
the hands of ex-Senator J. S. C. Blackburn, of Kentucky, 
a member of the Isthmian Canal Commission and Gov- 
ernor of the Canal Zone. Mr. Wilder was afforded every 
opportunity to get a thorough insight into the plans and 
operations of the work by Col. George W. Goethals, who 
is chairman and chief engineer of the Isthmian Canal 
Commission and president of the Panama Canal Railroad 
& Steamship Co. 

On July 3, 1909, Mr. Wilder again went abroad, this 
time to study the monetary systems of Germany and 

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Memorial Addresses: Representative Wilder 

France, having interviews with bankers to whom he had 
credit letters. He visited Hamburg, Berlin, Dresden, 
Carlsbad, and Vienna, and he never hesitated to say that 
the banking systems of the Old World are wholly inappli- 
cable to America. Mr. Wilder returned home carrying 
the firm belief that America must build for America on 
American lines. 

Beginning with 1884, Mr. Wilder covered all the large 
cities of the United States as far south as Atlanta and as 
far west as Kansas City, and nearly every town of any 
considerable size in New England, these trips being made 
for the purpose of selling the product of the factories 
with which Mr. Wilder was connected. His business has 
taken him to the Pacific coast in all five times, so that he 
gained a thorough knowledge of the country. 

For a period of 38 years Mr. Wilder was an employer 
of labor, and never during all that period had a strike, 
lockout, or disagreement marred his relations with his 
employees. Many of Mr. Wilder's employees have been 
with him more than a score of years, and he was held in 
high esteem by them. 

Mr. Wilder was a thirty-second degree Mason, a mem- 
ber of Hope Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, 
and Gardner Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, of which or- 
ganization he was at one time at the head, having pre- 
viously occupied the same position in North Star Chapter 
of Winchendon. He was a member of Ivanhoe Com- 
mandery. Knights Templar, of Gardner, and Aleppo Tem- 
ple, Nobles of the Mj^stic Shrine, Boston. He was also an 
honorary member of D. G. Farragut Post 116, Grand 
Army of the Republic. 

He was a member of the First Congregational Church 
of Gardner, a charter member of the Young People's 
Society of Christian Endeavor of that church, and for 
many years held many prominent offices connected with 
the work of the church. 

Congressman William H. Wilder, of the third Massa- 
chusetts district, who died at his apartments in the Wood- 
ward, Washington, D. C, on Thursdaj' evening, was laid 
at rest in Crystal Lake Cemetery on Sunday afternoon. 



[68] 



William Henry Wilder 



A complication of diseases from which Mr. Wilder had 
suffered for nearly two years became violent several 
weeks ago and the Congressman took to his bed. 

Gradually his condition grew worse. The best corps of 
physicians procurable were in attendance, and on Thurs- 
day all hopes of the Congressman's recovery were given 
up. That evening at 6.30 o'clock he peacefully passed 

away. 

He was twice married, his first wife being Miss Helen 
M. Laws, who died in 1909, leaving a family of five chil- 
dren. In 1912 Mr. Wilder married Miss Irene Paula 
Uibel, of New York, who survives him, as well as these 
children: Solon Wilder, president of the Wilder Indus- 
tries; Paul Wilder, a foreman for the same concern; Miss 
Marion Wilder, Mrs. Naomi (Wilder) Gay, wife of Wal- 
lace Gay; and Mrs. Alice (Wilder) Wood, wife of Harold 
I. Wood, all of Gardner. 

His death was announced in the House that night by his 
colleague. Congressman Allen T. Treadway, of this State. 
The House after adopting resolutions of sympathy and 
respect adjourned as a further mark of respect. 

funeral services 

The remains arrived aboard a special train from Wash- 
ington on Sunday afternoon at 2.30 o'clock. Accompany- 
ing the body were Mrs. Wilder, widow of the late Con- 
gressman, and an attendant; Solon Wilder, a son; Harry 
C. Bates, secretary; and Miss Bertha Rothwell, secretary 
for Solon Wilder. 

Representatives of the Senate who accompanied the 
body were H. L. Myers, Montana; Henry Cabot Lodge, 
Massachusetts; Thomas J. Walsh, Montana; Thomas B. 
Catron, New Mexico. 

Congressmen attending were John J. Mitchell, James 
Curley, Thomas C. Thacher, Frederick S. Deitrick, Allen 
T. Treadway, Samuel E. Winslow, and John J. Rogers, all 
of Massachusetts; Asher C. Hinds, of Maine; William A. 
Oldfield, of Arkansas; and Judge Charles A. Adamson, of 
Georgia. 

At 4 o'clock funeral services were conducted in the 
home by Rev. B. S. Gilman, pastor of the First Congre- 

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Memorial Addresses: Representative Wilder 

gational Church. Mrs. Grace S. Chandler, of Fitchburg, 
and Mrs. W. H. Griffin, of Westminster, sang several 
selections. 

A delegation of 50 Knights Templar in full uniform 
served as an escort. At the close of the services the house 
was thrown open to the public. All the employees of the 
Central Oil & Gas Stove Co. viewed the remains in a body. 

The bearers were: Harvey N. Brooks, Fred E. White, 
Stanley A. Sparrow, Joseph P. Carney, Herbert D. Burn- 
ham, Henry F. Howe, Charles B. Eager, Marlboro; Edward 
P. Cole, Marshfield. 

A delegation from the Gardner Business Men's Asso- 
ciation, including George A. Swallow, A. W. Pineo, Lewis 
A. Wright, Daniel Ryan, Fred Grammont, and Martin E. S. 
Anderholm, attended the funeral. 

Personal friends of the Congressman who attended the 
funeral were: Orra L. Stone, of Clinton; Samuel W. 
McCall, Dr. George L. Drury, of Boston; C. E. Berry and 
Scott Roe, of Waltham; E. A. Thissell, of Lowell; William 
J. H. Nourse, of Worcester; and Charles B. Eager, of 
Marlboro. Burial was in the family lot in Crystal Lake 
Cemetery. Many handsome floral pieces were received. 



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